Modern kitchens place a premium on sufficient usage of storage for utensils, dry goods, and can goods. In the past, the traditional kitchen includes simple shelving to accommodate these items. However, simple shelving suffers from the drawback of unusable rear areas in corners where items are difficult to see and reach.
In an effort to overcome these difficulties, the prior art has responded by various cabinet pull out devices.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,832,816 to Compagnucci discloses a frame used to support racks that slide out from a cabinet and rotate around a vertical axis. The frame comprises a rectangular structure formed of two uprights connected by upper and lower cross-pieces. The cross-pieces are coupled to telescopic sliding assemblies mounted within the cabinet. The cross-pieces are pinned to the sliding assemblies to allow the rack to rotate approximately 90° on a vertical axis such that the frame becomes parallel with the face of the cabinet only at a fully deployed position. Stops mounted to the cross-pieces prevent the frame from sliding to a stored position within the cabinet before the frame is rotated 90° such that the frame is parallel with the sliding assemblies. The device does not provide a self centering mounting base or an adjustable face plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,966 to Fulterer discloses a pullout device for a tall cupboard. The device comprises upper and lower sliding assemblies including telescopically sliding rails and running rollers. A vertically extending pullout frame, which is formed of vertical front and rear bars and horizontal upper and lower bars, is secured to the sliding assemblies. The front and rear bars and the upper and lower bars can be formed as telescopic members, permitting to adapt the device to the dimensions of the tall cupboard. A plurality of baskets can be hung between the vertical. A frontal screen is secured to the front vertical bar. The frontal screen is not easily adjustable.
U.S. Reissue Pat. No. RE41,725 to Walburn discloses a drawer slide system providing desired access and stability for a side access drawer. The system comprises a drawer having a front wall, a back wall, a base, and plurality of shelves connected between the front and back walls. The base includes a pair of vertical webs. The base is slidably mounted on an assembly comprised of one horizontally oriented drawer slide and a pair of vertically oriented drawer slides mounted to vertical webs of the base. The drawer does not provide an adjustable face plate.
Despite the advantages of the prior art, a major drawback has been that the pullout devices disclosed are not easily installed or adjusted. The prior art fails to disclose or suggest a pullout cabinet device that is easily and accurately mounted and which is easily adjustable to accommodate alignment with adjacent cabinets. Therefore, there is a need for a slidable pullout apparatus which is easily and accurately installed in a preexisting cabinet space where the apparatus is adjustable to ensure a coordinated and professional look which assimilates with cabinets already installed.